Fact: I eat cookies for breakfast. A giant healthy cookie, some fruit, and Greek yogurt on the side. I eat clean breakfasts during the week so I can splurge on the weekends. Life’s all about balance, right?!

These breakfast cookies are so easy to throw together. All you need is 1 bowl, 30 minutes, and a few healthy ingredients that are highly interchangeable based on what you like. Start with your base ingredient: oats. You’ll want to use quick-cooking oats in this cookie recipe. The quick cooking kind are more “powdery” than whole oats and will give the cookies more structure. I tried the cookies using whole oats and while they tasted the same, they were falling apart. Use quick oats. And make sure they are certified gluten free if you are gluten intolerant.

Did you know? You can make your own quick oats. See my note at the bottom of the recipe.

What else is hiding inside these breakfast appropriate cookies? A few binders: almond butter, apple butter, and 1 mashed banana. If you aren’t a fan of almond butter, you may use peanut butter or sunflower seed butter. Guess what? You can make your own almond butter at home!

Apple butter (which is not the same as applesauce) gives today’s cookies an unbeatable flavor. I buy my apple butter at the farmer’s market, but my favorite store-bought apple butter is Musselman’s. It is available in practically all grocery stores in the peanut butter or applesauce aisle. You could use applesauce instead, just know that the cookies will not be as moist since apple butter is denser in texture than applesauce. Mango butter, pumpkin butter, or any fruit butter would be fine substitutes as well.

Sweetening the cookies (besides the apple butter and mashed banana) is 1/4 cup of maple syrup. I’ve used both pure maple syrup and sugar free maple syrup in these cookies before. Purists may slap my hand for using the sugar free kind, but I just buy what’s on sale. Feel free to use honey instead of the syrup, keeping in mind the cookies would no longer be vegan.

The rest of the ingredients are completely up to you! Sometimes I add dried cranberries, 2 Tbsp of ground flax, raisins, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, honey-roasted peanuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, or dried apples. Today I used dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, golden raisins, and regular raisins. I also love adding chocolate chips, but I was being good today. 😉

As long as you keep the add-ins to about 1.5 cups, you’ll be fine.

The cookies take about 15 minutes in the oven. They don’t spread at all, so be sure to shape them down into large discs before you put them in the oven.

The batch only yields about 9-10 cookies, depending how large you make them. Sometimes I make a double batch in advance and keep them in the freezer for a quick grab n’ go breakfast or snack. They bake up to be quite hearty and dense; one cookie usually keeps me full for hours. The complex carbs from the oats fuels some amazing workouts, too. Try one before hitting the pavement or gym!

They are man friendly too. 🙂 Kevin likes to spread peanut butter on top of them and dunk them into milk. Putting peanut butter on top of nut butter cookie… I knew I was marrying this man for a reason!

Knowing I’m having cookies for breakfast certainly gets me out of bed. 😉

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Breakfast Cookies

Yield:9-10 large cookies

These healthy morning cookies are so simple to throw together. They are ready within 30 minutes. The recipe may easily be doubled to make a big batch. *Gluten free* if using certified GF oats. Refined sugar free and vegan.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer). Mix until all of the ingredients are combined. The dough will be quite stiff.

Take 1/4 cup of dough and drop onto prepared cookie sheet. Slightly flatten the tops into desired thickness. The cookies will not spread in the oven.

Bake for 15-16 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Allow to cool on the cookie sheets completely.Cookies stay fresh at room temperature for 1 week. Cookies can be frozen up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes:

*Be sure to use quick oats in this recipe. Quick oats are more finely ground up whole oats, so they are slightly powdery. They are sold right next to the whole oats. You may not even notice there are two kinds of oats in the first place! You may make quick oats at home - simply measure 2 cups of whole oats and pulse in the blender or food processor about 5 times.

*Read the text in the post above about using unsweetened applesauce or other ingredients instead of apple butter.

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Just made these with my 3 year old and they are delicious! I will leave out the maple syrup next time as I found them a tad too sweet but we will definitely be making these again in the near future. Thanks!

Hi Sally! I’m so happy I came across this recipe – I made them this afternoon and they are amazing! Using what I had on hand, I made mine with about 3/4 cup almond butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter, boiled cider in place of apple butter, and my mix-ins were raw pumpkin seeds, pecans, and dried cherries. They are so hearty and flavorful! I will be a very happy camper at breakfast time this week!

These are the most delicious cookies I have ever had! They beat all chocolate chip, snicker doodle and any lemon cookie I have ever had or made! I used dried blueberries, dried figs and dried mango as my fillers. The aroma of banana, peanut butter, cinnamon and fruit was incredible! I will be making this for years to come as well as sharing the recipe with everyone I know! Thank you so much! Just want to put it out there that mixing the dough with your hands is an excellent alternative to the hand mixer as it does not stick to the tool!

I made the breakfast cookies today and shared them with friends as we hiked Bushkill Falls PA. Everyone loved them. Wondering if you ever did a nutritional study on them. Calories etc? Some of the girls do weight watchers and were wondering about points??. I made them exactly as your recipe suggests ….no flax seed! My add ins were cranberries, golden raisins and pumpkin seeds. Thanks!

I just made this today to have this week on the way to work. It’s really good!! I made them with cranberrie, apricots and pumpkin seeds. I used peanut butter but I had about 3/4 cup only, I added more apple butter to compensate. I find them a tad too sweet for breakfast, it might be because of ther apple butter? Either way I will make them again for sure and maybe cut back a little bit on the maple syrup next time. It’s a great option when I get tired of eating muffins or granola. Thanks!!

Hi Sally,
I’m soooo happy to have found your site.
I am chef/baker by profession but retired. Found and made your Breakfast Cookie recipe. Its so good. I doubled the recipe ( 2nd time) when I made it cause I have more people wanting to taste your cookies. I’m on weight Watchers and looking for a recipe that had none of the oils, eggs, sugar(by the tons) and flour. I made 18 cookies 2 1/2″ wide out of 1 recipe. For each recipe I, added 1/8c honey and 1/8 c sugar free maple flavored syrup (it’s the only change I made). I gave away 1 dozen and baked 6 for me. The rest are in the freezer.
I made this cookie recipe the way it was written the first time I made it as a courtesy to the author.
I have shared this recipe with my new friend at our meeting at Weight Watchers a week ago.
I will explore your site more cause I see other recipes that are good.
Thank you

Sally ,
I also made my own apple butter (w/ 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 4 lbs of different apples.
Your almond butter and chopped dried apricots ( my mom used all the raisins) and dried cranberries.
Will be making another of your cookie recipe. Just deciding right now.
Thank you again
Monina

Hi Sally,
The first cookie (breakfast cookies) are simply great.
I gave them away and my friends and family want more.
So I stirred them to your site and gave each one recipes of 4 different cookies.
1. Breakfast Cookie
2. Healthy Oatmeal Raisinets Cookies
3. Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip
4. Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter.
As my practice, I follow the recipe as originally written.
Then I share. I ask for feedback. Since I’m on Weight Watchers,
I try to minimize the amount of sugar, oil etc…
I also reduced the portions. Original portion 16 cookies divided by 2.
I’m making the Skinny Chocolate Peanut butter next.
I love freezing my cookies and it’s handy when I want a treat.
2nd batch changes are:
1. Using PB2 powdered peanut butter 85% fat free will reconstitute using water to make the required amount for the recipe
2. For chocolate chips, I will use dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chunks.
I’ll post result
Thank you again,
Monina

Something different perhaps – halved the recipe, didn’t have apple butter and I don’t eat bananas. Used one of those 3.5 oz squeeze pouches, this one Apple, Kale & Mango. Added chopped dates and needed 20 minutes to brown. Hope I will still have some cookies to eat tomorrow!!

This the second time I make this recipe and I really like it. Very tasty and filling. I have it crumbled over Greek yogurt for breakfast or as is for a snack in the afternoon.
The first time I made it I found it way too sweet for my taste. I used regular pb and I think it was sweet enough with the apple butter and didn’t need the extra honey. This time I made it with half natural almond butter and half regular peanut butter (because I didn’t have enough to use only one of the other), I was out of apple butter so I used unsweetened apple sauce and a little under 1/4 cup of honey. It is a lot of swapping but I liked it a lot! It’s a very easy and forgiving recipe. Both times I use a mixed of roasted unsalted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberrieso and apricots.
It is now in my regular baked goods breakfast rotation!

An old recipe, but I just had to comment. I just made a batch of these last night and they turned out utterly fantastic. I needed something to have as a morning snack when I get hungry between breakfast and lunch so that I stop hitting up Starbucks all the time – and the first day’s test has returned with perfect scores across the board.

I did make one change to the recipe, which I thought I’d note in case anyone else has the same problem with me, in that I couldn’t get my hands on apple butter. Instead, I had a bunch of dates; I soaked them to make them soft, then blended them up into a smooth paste, and used that as a replacement. I also reduced the amount of honey to just two tablespoons (okay, two changes), and I found that to be the perfect sweetness level for me. The fillings you suggested sounded great to me, so I went with dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds… and a very small amount of lonely raisins that were sitting forlornly in the cupboard and were feeling left out. Through sheer willpower, I resisted tossing in some dark chocolate, but I may not be so strong next time.

My mom loved these so much that she’s asked me to make her a double-batch of them as her birthday present for this weekend; I’ll be giving them to her along with your salted caramel apple pie recipe, which is another favourite! (Oh my gosh, this comment is a block paragraph, why is it not letting me put spaces between paragraphs?? I’m so sorry, this is a nightmare on the eyes!)

I used apple sauce instead of apple butter (difficult to get hold of in the UK), and replaced half the peanut butter with an egg, and they were delicious! Definitely didn’t need extra salt added alongside the peanut butter. Will become a breakfast staple, especially when I need to grab something on the way to work 🙂

These cookies are so good! I have made them several times and substituted ingredients when I didn’t have what it called for and they always turn out delicious! I have used pureed peaches or applesauce instead of banana, hemp hearts instead of pumpkin seeds and I have added chopped dates, chopped apricots, and even chocolate chips. Always delicious! And a great snack for a nursing mamma. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!

These breakfast cookies are delicious! My 5 year old loves them!
I would like to try different variations of ingredients in them. Would cacao nibs work instead of chocolate chips? I’ve never baked with nibs, I’ve only ever used them in smoothies, so I’m not sure how it would turn out.

Hi, I am looking for a healthy breakfast cookie/ muffin for my nieces family. These look soooo good and perfect for her, except her kids cant do even oatmeal. Is there any possible substitute??? Thanks!

We love these! I had been buying processed gluten free bars for my husband. I love the fact that there are no preservatives in these. It is so easy to make substitutions. I used organic agave in place of the honey once. It was a little stickier to work with, but cooked up well. I really enjoy the pumpkin seeds in them. Also love the fact that it is s000 easy and quick! Thanks, Sally!

I make your breakfast cookies all the time and love them. I was wondering if these could maybe be baked in a sheet pan, more like cookie bars, instead of individual cookies. They would be more like granola bars.

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I make your breakfast cookies all the time and love them. I was wondering if these could maybe be baked in a sheet pan, more like cookie bars, instead of individual cookies. They would be more like granola bars.

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I’m Sally, a cookbook author, photographer, and blogger. My goal is to give you the confidence and knowledge to cook and bake from scratch while providing quality recipes and plenty of pictures. Grab a cookie, take a seat, and have fun exploring! more about Sally